Frieren: "…?"

Yomogawa Ayame: "What is this? Mitsuha?"

Stella: "A trade? What do you mean? Mitsuha? @Miyamizu Mitsuha."

Sui: "What happened? Didn't Mitsuha's plan work?"

Izawa Shizue: "Looks like it wasn't as simple as we thought."

Yukinoshita Yukino: "Can someone explain what exactly happened?"

Yotsuya Miko: "Eh? Eh? The plan failed?"

Hiiragi Shinoa: "Mitsuha? Are you okay?"

Misaka Mikoto: "What on earth is going on?"

Erica: "Such a resolute price to pay… it seems something brutally unexpected happened."

Julis: "@Miyamizu Mitsuha, calm down! Whatever happened, there has to be another way!"

The chat exploded in an instant—celebration flipped to shock, confusion, and fierce worry.

Everyone was stunned by the sudden trade request and its staggering terms.

Miyamizu Mitsuha stared at the messages streaming past. Tears finally burst the dam and blurred her vision. Choking up, she replied:

Miyamizu Mitsuha: "It worked, the plan worked… a lot of people were saved."

Miyamizu Mitsuha: "But… Yotsuha, my little sister Yotsuha, she didn't…"

Miyamizu Mitsuha: "She wasn't on the mountain then, she…"

Miyamizu Mitsuha: "She's dead…"

Miyamizu Mitsuha: "It's my fault, I didn't notice, I didn't notice her!"

Miyamizu Mitsuha: "Rei Ao-san, please… please save Yotsuha!"

Her words were a blood-weeping cry, and the boiling chat fell into dead silence.

Everyone understood.

Behind the relief of survival lay a loss that carved to the bone.

She saved the many, but lost her closest kin.

How cruel.

Frieren: "How sorrowful."

Yomogawa Ayame: "How could this be."

Stella: "What an utterly unexpected outcome."

Sui: "…My condolences."

Izawa Shizue: "What a pity."

Yukinoshita Yukino: "..."

Yotsuya Miko: "Mitsuha, don't worry—Rei Ao-nii will definitely help you."

Endless mourning and silence spread through the group; any words felt pale before life and death.

And then, Rei Ao's reply appeared beneath the trade request—simple, direct, definitive.

Rei Ao: "Since I've accepted your trade, it means I'm one hundred percent certain I can do it. Wait."

The instant that message appeared, Mitsuha felt an indescribable power descend.

Everything around her—the wailing crowd, wavering flames, the howling wind, even the dust and the scorched smell in the air—froze.

Sound vanished. Motion stopped. It was as if someone hit pause on the world, plunging it into absolute stillness.

Her father's grief, fixed on his face. A tear on her grandmother's lashes, suspended before it fell. Flames in the distance, locked in a strange, motionless poise…

The entire world became a vast, uncanny, three-dimensional tableau.

Only Miyamizu Mitsuha's mind and body could still move.

The extreme silence was more terrifying than the earlier clamor. She turned her stiff neck in panic, looking around.

Then a calm voice, with a hint of playful amusement, sounded right behind her—so clear it seemed to echo directly in her head:

"Mitsuha, do you want everything to return to before the incident, or should I simply restore everything around you as it is now—including your sister Yotsuha?"

Mitsuha spun around.

At some point, Rei Ao had appeared, standing a single step behind her without a sound.

He looked as unreadable as ever: ordinary clothes, features that seemed clear and yet indistinct, and eyes so deep they felt like they held the birth and death of countless stars.

He just stood there, out of joint with the frozen world around him—like the only real "existence" in a painted backdrop.

Time… had truly stopped?

Mitsuha's heart pounded so hard it nearly broke her ribs.

What was happening was beyond anything she understood.

Freezing time? That should be a divine power, shouldn't it?

If he could do this… was he truly omnipotent?

From the depths of despair, a searing hope flared.

She locked her eyes on Rei Ao, drew a deep breath, forced herself steady, wiped her tears, and said solemnly, "If possible… then take everything back to before the accident happened! Let everything change from there!"

Her voice trembled with agitation and nerves, but it was unwavering.

This broken rescue wasn't what she wanted. She refused a "success" bought with Yotsuha's life.

She wanted a perfect ending— one where tragedy was changed before it ever began.

Seeing the resolve blazing in her eyes, Rei Ao's lips seemed to lift a fraction.

"As you wish."

He raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

Snap.

With a light crack that seemed to flip the universe's switch, the frozen scene began to ebb backward like a retreating tide.

Flames flowed back into the ruins. Collapsed houses stood upright again. Shattered stones flew back to their places. Billowing smoke rolled inward and vanished. Tears slid back into eyes, open mouths closed, running bodies rewound…

Everything raced headlong into the past.

Mitsuha's eyes widened, drinking in the miracle before her.

A faint dizziness washed over her— a feeling like her soul was being drawn out, like the whirling "time tunnel" you see in movies.

The scenery sped up and up, until it became a blinding stream of light and shadow.

She didn't know how long it lasted. Perhaps an instant; perhaps an eternity.

Then all the anomalies stopped.

Dazzling sunlight made her squint. Cicadas screeched in the summer air. A breeze brushed past, carrying the scent of grass and earth—and… grilled fish?

Miyamizu Mitsuha was standing at the gate of her family shrine.

In the distance, Lake Itomori glittered in the sun. The town was peaceful and whole, with no trace of destruction.

It seemed to be… the morning of the previous day?

"Sis! Why are you just standing there? Breakfast's ready! There's grilled fish—your favorite!"

A voice she knew by heart, bright and full of life, sounded behind her.

Mitsuha whirled around.

There stood her little sister Yotsuha in the dining-room doorway—hands on her hips, wearing that classic "you're so slow" face.

Whole and alive—Yotsuha.

Miyamizu Mitsuha's pupils tightened; tears flooded out again, uncontrollable.

This time, they were the tears of joy at what was lost and found again.